The Jimmy Butler trade saga is finally over.
NBA "Beef" is captivating and has the tendency to suck the air out of media coverage, so for the last month everywhere you look updates on Jimmy Butler and his fight to get out of Miami have been dominating the airwaves.
A month ago, when the drama ramped up, we wrote a piece here at King James detailing the worst possible outcome for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Jimmy Butler trade saga: that Butler would stay put and patch things up with the Heat.
Butler and the Heat have been a lethal playoff team, and the Cavaliers have historically struggled to win in Miami. Put those things together, and a Butler-led Heat team was the last one the Cavs would want to see in a 1-v-8 Opening Round matchup in the playoffs. Would Cleveland be favored? Absolutely. Would they feel good heading into the series? Probably not.
Jimmy Butler is out of the Eastern Conference
That option is now off the table, as Jimmy Butler has been officially traded. What's more, he is not heading to an Eastern Conference rival, either. The Cavaliers will not have to face Butler next to Giannis Antetokounmpo or Joel Embiid or even Cade Cunningham.
Butler was traded to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, in a deal that brings Andrew Wiggins, P.J. Tucker and Kyle Anderson back to Miami. A Warriors team desperate to make a move committed not only good players but also good money to adding Butler, immediately agreeing to a lucrative two-year contract extension worth $112 million.
The Heat are obviously worse than they would have been with a healthy and committed Jimmy Butler on board, but better than they had been playing with Butler suspended. Andrew Wiggins is having a really solid two-way season and will be a solid piece in the Heat's starting lineup. Kyle Anderson is likewise a good fit in the Heat's zone defense and is a savvy player to combine with Kel'el Ware on bench lineups when Miami isn't deploying their new twin towers look.
Five years ago, the Miami Heat entered the playoffs as the five seed and promptly swept the 4-seed Indiana Pacers, then upset the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in dominant fashion 4-1. It took six games to conquer the young Boston Celtics in the East Finals, again as the lower-seeded team.
Three years later, the Heat were at it again, but this time as the 8 seed. Jimmy Butler led Miami in an upset over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks once again, then they upset the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics en route to another NBA Finals.
That's the kind of killer mentality and postseason experience the Cavaliers just didn't want to mess with. Now they won't have to; Butler and the Warriors will fight just to make the playoffs in the West, and the Cavaliers can feel even more confident in their quest to win the East.
The Jimmy Butler trade saga will likely go down as a disappointment for many of the parties involved, but for the Cavaliers, they are jumping for joy.